A Time of Magic
by tenyaaaaah
Summary: In a land of myth, and a time of magic, eight witches descended upon a great kingdom to visit a young man... This is a spin-off of 'Green and Gold', so please go read that before you read this. This story is set between chapters 16 and 17 of Green and Gold, and seasons two and three of BBC's Merlin.


**_Warning:_****_ It is not recommended that you read this unless you have read 'Green and Gold'. Chances are you won't understand what's going on, nor know who half of the characters are._**

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**This story is set between chapters 16 and 17 of 'Green and Gold', and seasons two and three of BBC's 'Merlin'. The timeline isn't set-in-stone. Just assume Morgana's already been found and Gwaine arrives in Camelot early.**

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In a land of myth, and a time of magic, eight witches descended upon a great kingdom to visit a young man. His name...Merlin.

The great wizard Merlin lived in a magical community called Camelot, a time and place that refused to embrace the modern world, shutting itself off from development. This was both a blessing and a downfall. Before the coming of Muggles, it was home to such brilliant magical developments. Nowadays, however, the kingdom was overrun by reigning Muggles, who believed that sorcery was evil, and the cause of every single mishap.

The progression of magic was halted, bringing to an end what was once the most prosperous of magical communities, as at the first sign of the use of magic, sorcerers were burned, innocent people killed and the witches and wizards were forced to flee under fear of death.

And yet, Merlin had stayed, protecting the residents of Camelot with his magic, disguised as Prince Arthur's clumsy man-servant. As Camelot's saviour, he had many enemies, but he also had plenty of friends, and it was on this lovely sunny Tuesday that his friends, an all-female Quidditch team, were to visit.

They arrived at the gates of Camelot on horseback, horses borrowed from a gentle druid who was fond of Merlin. There had been grumblings and groanings but they knew they had no choice. Merlin had informed them of Camelot's prejudices in the letter he had given Harry.

"How did Harry come to meet this guy?" Katie had asked as they trotted over the marshy land.

"Ministry business, I think?" Ginny had replied, wrapping her arms tightly around the neck of her horse as the terrain became uneven.

The letter had announced that Merlin was a huge fan of Quidditch, and there was no way they could refuse. They all wanted to see this mythical, magical land where their kind were able to be sentenced to death. Ginny had been particularly interested owing to her fascination to the wizarding world's inability to embrace the advancements made by the Muggle world.

Suddenly there was a loud "oof", and Ginny turned around to find a horse without a rider, and Magda on the ground. Before any of the women could get off their horses to help Magda, another rider appeared, got off his horse and offered Magda his hand. Blushing red, and attempting to brush off the dirt from her travelling cloak, she reached up and was hoisted to her feet by the stranger.

"Thank you," she mumbled, not looking at him.

"What's your name?" Ophelia asked bluntly.

The man removed his hood to reveal a flowing mane of chestnut hair and a tanned, somewhat worn face. He was handsome in an odd way, and Magda gasped. He grinned and cocked an eyebrow.

"Always happens," he said. Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'm Gwaine."

"Gwaine who?" Ophelia folded her arms.

Gwaine scratched his head, confused. "I'm just Gwaine."

"Okay," Ophelia shrugged. She decided it wasn't worth arguing. She knew little of this strange, backwards land.

"Shall we continue?" Gwaine asked, hopping back onto his horse. A few of them nodded, and they passed through Camelot's gates. Gwaine led them to the middle of the city, where a large courtyard provided them with enough space to dismount and stretch their legs. The castle's white brick walls towered above them, and there were stairs which led up to the castle's doors. The majesty of the castle gave it an air of surrealism, almost as if it wasn't real. Gwaine left them almost immediately, maneuvering through the crowd to disappear down a corridor.

Ginny looked around in wonder and amazement. It wasn't Hogwarts, but it was a different kind of beautiful. As her eyes travelled back to the castle's main doors, it opened to reveal a white-haired man who was dressed regally. He wore a crown on top of his head. _This must be the infamous king who had a hatred for magic_, Ginny thought.

"And who might you be?" Uther asked coldly, his eyes sweeping over the women. Ginny felt uncomfortable. He glared at them suspiciously.

"We're… um…" Angelina didn't know what to say. She glanced towards Alicia and Katie, who looked just as unsure.

"We are but a simple band of travelling performers," Ginny announced, unsure of where the lie had come from. "We have spent the last three days travelling through the forest and came upon your wonderful castle in the hope that you might have rooms for us to rest up in."

Ginny was impressed with herself.

"And how can I be sure that you are not a band of druids out seeking revenge?"

Ginny stammered for a moment and then sighed. "You cannot be sure," she admitted.

"Your majesty," Uther said, and Ginny was reminded of Severus Snape.

"I apologise," Ginny said, bowing her head. The other women did the same. "We have travelled very far and would just like to rest for a few days."

It was at this moment when footsteps could be heard emanating from inside the castle. Suddenly a handsome, blonde haired man appeared next to the King. He was wearing a red tunic that looked several sizes too small so that his arm muscles were displayed and brown trousers that almost looked out of place in the somewhat medieval surroundings.

"What's this?" the man asked, looking over the women. He smiled, and even Beth was taken aback at his handsomeness.

"Nothing important," Uther replied, turning away from the women. "Just some _performers_ seeking shelter," he sneered.

"We must find you rooms at once," the man announced, flashing them another of his smiles. Uther rolled his eyes and walked back into the castle.

"On your head be it," he replied. The sound of his shoes hitting the marble floor filled the air.

"I'm Prince Arthur," Arthur told the women once his father had gone. "Come inside, please, we must feed you!"

"I'm not hu-" Magda began, but was shut up by an elbow in the stomach by Ophelia.

"Thank you, My Lord," Angelina replied on behalf of them all. They followed him into the castle, and he led them to the large banquet hall.

* * *

After a splendid meal, Prince Arthur called in his best knights and asked them to escort the "fine ladies" on a tour around the castle. He regretted that he could not join them, but promised that he would meet up with them at some point later in the day. Ginny, who was still enjoying her meal, soon realised that if she didn't hurry, she would miss out on a tour altogether, and so, as Alicia, Angelina and Ophelia were getting ready to leave, she stood up hastily and almost tripped over her long dress. A knight was waiting for them patiently. He was tall and lean, with scraggly, dirty blond hair and an unruly beard. He walked over to the door silently and opened it, waiting for them to file out.

As she walked past him, Ophelia asked, "Is your name Matthew?"

"No," the knight replied, a confused expression on his face. "My name is Sir Leon."

"Leon?" Ophelia raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't look much like a Leon."

She crossed her arms and looked at him. Alicia, who was standing next to her, nudged her elbow, indicating that it was quite rude to tell somebody that they didn't look like their name.

"I am afraid I cannot change that," Sir Leon's mouth twitched into a smile. "I am, and forever will be, Sir Leon."

Ophelia just stared at him. Ginny, who had had her share of Ophelia's stares, thought that Sir Leon would be unnerved, but he was unfazed.

"Shall we begin the tour?" he asked cheerfully. The four women nodded in response and followed him.

As they walked, Sir Leon gave them a brief history of the castle. He pointed out particular rooms and explained the importance of certain paintings and statues.

"And this here is a painting of Prince Arthur's mother, Ygraine," Sir Leon said, standing in front of a large painting of a stunning woman with pale, smooth skin and blonde, curly hair. She was wearing a simple, yellow gown with diamonds attached to the neckline. Ginny could see where Arthur got his looks from. Ygraine looked graceful and elegant.

"Will we meet her?" Ginny enquired politely, making a show of her ignorance. She knew she probably had nothing to fear, but she didn't want to get Harry into trouble by revealing something she should not know.

"Unfortunately no," Sir Leon told her. "She died many years past."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Ginny said sympathetically, and Sir Leon nodded.

There was a brief silence as each of them looked up at Ygraine, before Sir Leon said, "Let us continue."

They walked to the end of the corridor (which led to yet another, horizontal, corridor) and was faced with a large tapestry. On it was what resembled a dragon blowing fire out of its nostrils.

"Ahhh, yes, this fearsome beast," Sir Leon said with a sigh. "We had a dragon attack a few months ago," he told them. "The castle was in ruins, the village completely destroyed. The dragon had no mercy. Thankfully, Prince Arthur put a stop to it."

"You must have played some part in putting a stop to it too, didn't you, Matthew?" Ophelia asked.

If Sir Leon was annoyed at being called 'Matthew', he didn't show it. "I did all I could to defend Camelot. It is my duty, my -" he paused, a frown forming on his face. "Merlin, what are you doing?"

Merlin, a skinny man with dark hair with brilliant blue eyes, stood up quickly. Ginny noticed he was covered in a layer of dust.

"Hello," he said awkwardly, waving his right hand in the air. When he realised that they were all looking at him, he put his hand down.

"What are you doing?" Sir Leon asked again.

Merlin hesitated for a moment. "I'm looking for a frog."

Ginny felt like laughing, Sir Leon did.

"Why on Earth are you looking under furniture for a frog?" Sir Leon asked.

"It escaped."

"We have an escaped frog on the loose?"

"I was going to alert the knights and then I thought I'd have a better chance of finding it myself."

"You don't think we could find a simple frog?"

"Not without killing it first."

At this Sir Leon grinned, and then remembered the women he was showing around.

"These are some performers we are to put up for a few days," he informed the man, and then turned to them. "This is Merlin. Prince Arthur's manservant."

"Is that a euphemism?" Ophelia asked, and Angelina giggled.

"A… what?" Merlin asked, which caused the giggles to turn into hearty laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Ginny answered. "Pleased to meet you, Merlin."

"And you…"

"Ginny. Ginny Weasley."

Merlin nodded. Harry had told him about these women. He glanced at Sir Leon.

"I'll finish showing them around."

"Really?" Leon asked, and Merlin nodded. "I'm not sure…"

"I don't have anything else to do today, and you should be out with the other knights," Merlin said, and then added: "Don't tell Arthur I said I had nothing to do."

"I heard that," a familiar-sounding voice said. Prince Arthur walked up to the little group. "Merlin, when you are done polishing my armour, I need you to change my bedsheets and wash my clothes." Arthur didn't look at Merlin, but instead out of the window that they were standing next to.

Merlin, who realised that Arthur wasn't looking, made a face behind his back before saying, "Yes, Sire."

"And then, after that, you can muck out the stables."

"Again?" Merlin asked exasperatedly.

"Everyone can see the subtext here, right?" Ophelia said.

Arthur ignored Ophelia and turned to face Merlin, a look of mock-surprise on his face, "I thought you said you had nothing to do?"

Merlin didn't say anything, but Ginny was sure she heard him mutter "clotpole" under his breath. She tried not to laugh.

"Everything alright, Leon?" Arthur turned to the knight.

"Yes, Sire," Leon nodded.

"Very well. I have business to discuss with my father. I will see all of you later," Arthur said, as he began to walk off. "Merlin, you had better get started on that armour if you want to be done by nightfall."

"Yes, Sire," Merlin rolled his eyes at Arthur's retreating back. When he was sure Arthur was out of earshot, he said, "Dolophead."

This time, Ginny let herself laugh.

"Your insults are pure genius," Angelina commented. Merlin didn't seem to hear her.

"Are we ready to keep on touring?" Merlin asked.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Leon asked, before adding teasingly, "You have all that work to do for Arthur."

"Of course I'm sure! I can get it all done on time. I'm the best servant around," Merlin said, smiling slightly.

"Don't let Gwen hear you say that."

"Please don't tell her I said that."

"You have my word," Leon said, grinning from ear to ear, a cheeky smile on his face.

"You're going to tell her, aren't you?" Merlin groaned.

"No," Leon said. "My word is my word. And you have it."

Merlin considered this for a second before nodding, "Okay. I have a suggestion."

"And what is that?"

"Why don't these two" - he pointed to Ginny and Ophelia - "come with me, and those two" - he pointed to Alicia and Angelina - "go with you, and we can take them on separate tours?"

Leon grinned and agreed. "Alright then. Sounds like a plan. Is that alright with you?" he turned to the women, who were watching his conversation with Merlin amusedly.

"Fine by me," Angelina said. The others soon agreed. Sir Leon bade farewell to Ginny, Merlin and Ophelia and walked back down the hall with Alicia and Angelina tailing right behind him.

"See you later, Matthew!" Ophelia called out, and Merlin looked confused.

"She does know his name is Leon, doesn't she?" he asked Ginny, who nodded.

"Yep."

"Then why did she call him Matthew?"

Ginny and Ophelia broke out into laughter. Merlin still felt confused as he led them into the apothecary. They huddled in the doorway.

"This is the apothecary," he told them, ignoring the sign that told them where they were. "I suppose at Hogwarts, they would call it the Potions room…"

At first, Ophelia frowned in bewilderment, unsure if she had misheard Merlin or not. Then, the frown deepened as she realised that Merlin had mentioned Hogwarts, which meant that he knew of Hogwarts, which meant that he knew what they were.

"Hogwarts?" Ophelia asked.

"Yes, Hogwarts," Merlin said. "I know you're not performers…"

"Oh, so you're the guy who invited us," Ophelia said, nodding slightly to herself. "The one who's friends with Harry Potter?"

"Yes, how is Harry by the way?" Merlin turned to Ginny.

"He's very well," Ginny replied. "He wanted me to say hello."

"Very nice of him," Merlin smiled. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Ginny, who had noticed a tall, dark figure stalking past.

"Do you often see random people walking around the castle?" Ginny asked Merlin.

He shrugged, "Sometimes." He was about to say something else when he was interrupted yet again, this time by Ophelia.

"Did anybody just see that evil woman with the awesome hair?"

"Evil woman? Awesome hair?" Ginny looked at her friend.

"Yeah," Ophelia nodded. "She had awesome hair."

"It's probably just a maid," Merlin said, unconcerned.

"She looked evil," Ophelia said. Suddenly, her eyes twinkled. "I'm going to follow her!" she announced.

"Good luck," Ginny laughed, watching Ophelia run off, pulling up the hem of her long dress to make it easier for her to pursue the "evil woman with the awesome hair".

Ginny turned to Merlin, and they shared a confused look. Merlin was about to open the door into the apothecary when there came a loud bellow from inside the room.

"ARE YOU GOING TO STAND OUT THERE ALL DAY TALKING OR ARE YOU GOING TO COME IN AND GET SOME WORK DONE?"

Merlin grinned and beckoned for Ginny to follow him. Upon entering the apothecary, they were greeted by an old man, short, plump and wrinkled. He had long, almost white hair and hazel eyes. To Ginny's surprise, he was standing next to one of her teammates.

"Evie!" Ginny exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Evie smiled at Ginny and shrugged, "My tour-knight had to leave for training, so he dropped me off here on his way to the battlements." She noticed Ginny looking curiously at Gaius, and since Merlin had not said a word since entering the room, said, "This is Gaius. He's the Court Physician."

"Merlin, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Gaius asked. Although Ginny took it to be almost scolding in tone, she could see a wry smile forming on his lips.

"Right, yes, of course," Merlin started. He seemed to have been in a daydream. "This is Ginny. She's betrothed to Harry Potter."

As Gaius nodded to indicate that he knew who she was, Evie snorted and tried to stifle her laughter as Ginny's eyes widened. _Betrothed_? She hadn't even thought of marriage. She was only seventeen, for Wizard God's sake. She loved Harry, but marriage was a long way off.

"Ah, yes, Harry Potter," Gaius said, completely unaware that Ginny was in her own little world not thinking about marriage. "Did he ever end up using those potions we sent over to him?"

"I think he did," Merlin replied. "He mentioned it in a letter."

"We would have helped but we had a dragon invasion of our own to worry about," Gaius added in an aside to the women.

"Yes, well, Harry mentioned they defeated the Dark Lord anyway, without our help. I thought I told you this already?"

Gaius ignored him completely and turned back to Evie, who was mixing some ingredients into a stone basin. "How are you going with that?" Before Evie was given a chance to reply, Gaius explained, "An illness is spreading about the citadel and the lower parts of the town. We are creating a remedy."

"Can't you just use magic to cure everyone?" Ginny asked, looking at Merlin. "The King wouldn't know."

"Magic can only do so much," Evie piped up, surprising Ginny and Merlin. "Most of the time, potions have a longer lasting effect."

"We call them remedies here," Gaius said to no one in particular. "Potions is too closely related to witchcraft."

"How do you know so much about potions?" Ginny asked, looking at her teammate in a new light. She had never thought of Evie as a potions person before.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? I was the best in my year when I attended Beauxbatons," Evie revealed. "I find them so intricate and fascinating."

"I can follow instructions, but I'm not very good with potions," Merlin admitted.

"Neither am I," Ginny said.

"I was quite good," Gaius said. He didn't say so in a boasting manner, but there was a certain pride that filled the air around him. "I still am quite good."

"We have no doubt about that," Evie said, now adding fuel to the fire beneath the stone basin. The remedy began to bubble.

"Ginny, did you go to Hogwarts?" Gaius addressed her suddenly.

"Yes," Ginny answered. "I did. I'm surprised you know it."

"Know it? Of course I know it," Gaius said. "I have visited before."

Ginny felt her jaw drop, "You've been to Hogwarts before?"

"Yes," Gaius nodded. "I applied for a job as the Potions Master, but obviously, I was not successful."

"When was this?" Ginny asked.

Gaius hesitated before replying quite reluctantly (Ginny was sure that he was afraid of revealing his age), "A while ago. The headmaster was a man named Armando Dippet."

Dippet, the name was familiar to Ginny, she had definitely heard Harry mentioned it to her before, but she couldn't remember how long it had been since he was the headmaster of Hogwarts. Gaius could sense her thinking.

"He was the headmaster before Albus Dumbledore," he added, in an attempt to help her remember.

"You knew Dumbledore!?" Ginny couldn't believe it.

"We were friends, we constantly wrote to each other," Gaius said. He moved around the table and began to absent-mindedly tear up the leaves of a plant that was sitting on the tabletop. "Yes, I believe we were quite good friends. He informed me it was a Horace Slughorn who got the Potions Master position."

Ginny gave a sigh, "I wish you had been successful, Gaius. It would have saved us a whole lot of worry."

Gaius gave her a small smile, "One cannot change the past."

"And one should never try," Ginny replied, only somewhat truthfully as she remembered the story Harry had told her of his third year at Hogwarts that had saved the lives of two innocents.

They stood around for a moment, watching Gaius's skilled hands slice and dice the frog spawn he needed for one of his remedies.

"This is all very interesting," Merlin announced after a few more moments. "But I should probably finish showing Ginny around the castle."

"Yes, yes, very well," was all Gaius said, not looking up from his potion. Evie seemed to ignore them too. She was nose deep in an old book that Ginny assumed listed various potions.

"I'll see you later," Ginny said, and Evie nodded.

The pair left the apothecary and Ginny felt herself bump into somebody. A basket of clothes fell onto the floor and the dresses within fell everywhere. The woman Ginny had bumped into fell to her knees and started picking up the gowns, her face bright red.

"I'm so sorry!" Ginny cried. "I should have been paying more attention."

Ginny got down on her knees and began helping the woman.

"Ginny, this is Gwen," Merlin said, not bothering to help. Ginny rolled her eyes as she saw him with his arms folded across his chest.

"Nice to meet you," Ginny said, and Gwen's face faded back to its natural colour. "I'm a traveller."

"Pleased to meet you," Gwen said. "Ginny, wasn't it?"

Ginny nodded.

"Gwen's the Lady's Maid to the king's ward," Merlin continued.

"That's a mouthful," Ginny muttered. The dresses had all been placed in the basket and Merlin helped both women back up.

"Thank you," Gwen said, her voice heavy with irony.

"No problem," Merlin replied, pretending to brush his clothes down as Ginny and Gwen did the same.

Gwen and Merlin began to talk, and Ginny muttered her excuses and stood back. It sounded like a private conversation, and she did not want to intrude.

It was at that moment that a tall woman wearing a lacy black gown with long, incredible hair sashayed past. She looked like the idea of evil personified. Tailing her was Ophelia, and Ginny shook her head. Of course. She turned back to Gwen and Merlin and caught Gwen's eye.

Gwen stopped talking to Merlin and addressed Ginny, "Before I forget, Arthur wants to let all the newcomers know that there will be a feast this evening, held in honour of your arrival."

"Oh," Ginny said. "That's very kind of him."

Gwen gave a half-shrug before looking at Merlin, "Could I ask you for a favour please?"

"Of course," Merlin nodded.

"I might not be able to see the other performers," she said, looking down at her basket, indicating that she had a lot to do. "I would be really grateful if you helped to tell the others about the feast."

"We can do that," Merlin said, glancing at Ginny, who nodded.

"We'll definitely do it," she said.

"Thank you," Gwen smiled. "I had better go…"

"Where are you heading? We'll walk with you," Merlin said.

"Are you sure?" Gwen asked. "I'm going to the other side of the castle…"

"Maybe we'll just walk a little way with you then," Merlin did a little hop to catch up to Gwen, who had already begun to walk away. Ginny followed.

After a few more turns here and there, they finally escaped Camelot's extensive corridors and arrived at a courtyard. The battlements were in sight, so it wasn't a surprise to see knights training in different areas of the courtyard. Ginny was surprised, however, to see Magda sitting on top of a statue. She waved, but realised that Magda was not paying any attention to her. She was too preoccupied with something else.

"I like your sword!" Magda had called out to nobody in particular. "It's so shiny, and sword-like."

A group of knights stopped their training exercise to stare at Magda. Ginny couldn't see their faces, but she wondered if they all wore confused expressions. She watched as a knight approached Magda, holding out his sword. She heard Magda giggle and shake her head. She was invested in Magda's awkward flirting that she didn't realise someone had joined their little group.

"Who is she?" he asked, by way of greeting. He removed his helmet. It was Sir Leon.

"Her name's Magda," Ginny said.

"Is she a performer too?" Leon asked, looking at the black-haired purple-eyed woman with a certain fondness.

"Yes," Ginny felt a smile forming on her face. Merlin gave a little cough.

Leon gave a small sigh and turned to Ginny. "She is adorable."

Ginny was smiling so much now that her face hurt. "She is," she agreed with Leon.

"How should I present myself to her?" Leon suddenly became self-conscious. "How should I get her to notice me?"

"Just talk to her," Merlin clapped Leon on the back.

"Talk to her?" Leon creased his eyebrows.

"Yes, talk to her," Ginny nodded.

"Alright," Leon said, unconvinced. He put his helmet back on.

"I thought all the knights of Camelot were brave and courageous?" Merlin teased.

Leon drew his sword and walked away, ignoring Merlin. Ginny mentally wished him luck. As she watched Leon approaching Magda, she saw Beth out of the corner of her eye. Beth was sitting on top of some stone steps, next to a stone gargoyle. Beth was waving. Ginny was about to raise her hand to wave back when she realised it was not she who Beth was waving to, but it was to Gwen instead.

"How do you two –" Ginny began to ask how Gwen and Beth knew each other, however, she was cut off by Gwen.

"I am so sorry, I have to go deliver these dresses to the ladies of the court."

"Oh, alright," Ginny said. "It was nice to meet you, Gwen."

Gwen nodded and smiled apologetically before hurrying off. Merlin was still watching Leon and Magda, who were now talking animatedly. Ginny's eyes wandered around the courtyard, and she spotted Angelina and Alicia at the other end, walking with an unrecognisable knight, who had replaced Leon's role as the tour-guide. She called out to them and they pushed their way through the training knights to get to her and Merlin.

"Hi," Ginny greeted them.

"Hi," Alicia said back. "How's your tour going?"

"Good," Ginny smiled. "How's yours?"

"Good," Alicia nodded. She stepped closer to Ginny and whispered, "I don't think my knight knows much about the castle…"

Ginny tried not to laugh. The unrecognizable knight overheard and laughed as well.

He explained, "That's because I am not a knight."

Merlin stared at him and recognised the voice at once. He started jumping up and down in excitement.

"Um, Merlin?" Ginny looked at him, concerned. He didn't seem to hear her.

He clapped the man on the back, grinning cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

"I escorted these fine ladies into the castle. I think they were lost," the man said. Ginny shook her head with laughter. _Fine ladies_, she thought. _If only he saw us on the Quidditch pitch_. She remembered that the man's name was Gwaine.

"We weren't lost!" Angelina stated.

"I beg to differ," Gwaine argued. Ginny could almost hear his grin from beneath his helmet.

"Why are you still wearing your helmet?" Alicia asked, confused, and Gwaine shrugged.

"Got banished by the King," he stated plainly. "No big deal. Happens all the time."

"Banished?" Alicia sounded shocked. "What did you do?"

"Saved the Prince's life," Gwaine shrugged again.

"This world is more backwards than I thought," Ginny commented.

There was a short silence, which was broken by Gwaine, who asked Merlin, "Can I speak to you about a matter of major importance?"

"Of course," Merlin smiled widely. "It will give us a chance to catch up. Excuse me, ladies."

Alicia giggled. Angelina and Ginny just exchanged looks.

"No problem," Ginny said. "I'll find you later, Merlin."

He turned around, walking backwards, to give her a double thumbs up. He almost lost his balance on an uneven stone, but Gwaine caught his arm and straightened him up.

When the two men were out of sight, Alicia turned to Ginny and asked, "Hey, where are Ophelia and Evie?"

"Evie's in the apothecary," Ginny said. "But I've lost Ophelia."

"What do you mean 'lost'?" Angelina asked sternly.

"I mean, she disappeared."

"As in Disapparated?" Alicia asked cluelessly.

"No, as in wandered off," Ginny finished.

As if it had been planned, at that moment, Ophelia stumbled into the court once more.

"I lost her!" Ophelia mumbled angrily, mostly to herself. "I lost her, I lost her, I lost her."

"Who'd you lose?" Angelina asked.

"The evil woman!" Ophelia cried.

"There's an evil woman?" Alicia frowned.

"Ophelia thinks she's discovered a female You-Know-Who," Ginny explained.

"And how do you know that?" Angelina asked skeptically.

"How can she _NOT_ be evil!? She just oozes evil confidence. And nobody with hair that good isn't evil," Ophelia cried discontentedly.

"So what you're saying is you don't like my hair," Angelina folded her arms, looking at her in mock-offence.

"That's not the point," Ophelia argued, waving her hands wildly in the air like a mad woman.

"Is it because you think she looks better than you?" Ginny asked sarcastically.

"No!" Ophelia stamped her feet, not comprehending Ginny's sarcasm. She continued stamping and tripped over the uneven stone. "Help me up." She stuck up her hand.

Angelina and Ginny pretended to leave, but Alicia walked over and pulled her off the ground. Without a word of thanks, Ophelia continued her ravings, "I followed her into the forest, and there she was, the dark-haired evil woman, conspiring with a lighter-haired evil woman. I'm pretty sure it was a secret meeting, and we're all doomed. They were definitely planning something incredibly evil!"

"Whatever you say, I'm hungry," Ginny said, brushing Ophelia's madness aside. "Oh, by the way, there's a feast tonight in our honour. We should go."

"We should," Angelina said with a note of finality.

Ophelia muttered something under her breath and stalked off. The other three women left her to it, and began to talk about what would be appropriate to wear to the feast later that night.

* * *

The dining hall was set up in an awkward fashion. There were two u-shaped tables, arranged around a circular table of food. There was a space between the groups of tables called the "servants' promenade", where the maids would deliver food to the guests. In the very centre of the hall was yet another table, filled with flowers of every colour and variety. The head table was raised on a platform, and was where the King, the prince, and his ward sat overlooking the slightly dingy room. The knights were sat towards the end of the room, making a loud racket, enjoying their ale.

Attached to the head table were another two – this was where guests of honour were seated, and today the Holyhead Harpies occupied these seats. To the left, and next to the King's ward, sat Ophelia, who was not in the least happy to be there. Also on this table were Evie, Ginny and Beth. Beth was seated nearest the knights and was not enjoying their conversation at all.

On the table nearest Arthur, Katie was sat with her head rested on her interlocked fingers, admiring his handsomeness. Alicia and Angelina were sat in the middle, and Magda was sat at the very end, although she did not mind as she was sat almost next to Sir Leon.

The King was coming up to the end of his speech. "- druid blood. Welcome once more, and let it be known that Camelot will always be open to those who need assistance."

There was a disinterested round of applause, but Uther did not seem to notice. Neither did Beth, whose head was in her arms, which were resting on the table.

As they began to eat, Ginny glanced across the room and saw Katie interacting with the Prince. They seemed to be having an animated conversation, and Katie was so into it that she seemed to have forgotten that she had food in front of her. Ginny smiled as she saw Magda and Leon conversing while they ate. As Ginny took a sip from her wine goblet, she looked up at the royal table. The King's ward - who happened to be Ophelia's "evil woman" - now had a name: Morgana. She didn't _look_ evil. Her dress was a vibrant, extravagant royal purple, and her hair (which Ginny had to admit _was_ pretty awesome) was pinned back and pulled to the side, where the magnificent dark curls hung over her left shoulder. She was laughing at something the King had said, and Ginny couldn't believe that Ophelia had thought her to be evil. She seemed so nice. Ginny looked to her left and saw Ophelia frowning at Morgana. Evie was trying to get Ophelia's attention, but Ophelia would not look away. She gripped her knife and fork tightly in her hands. Ginny picked up her own knife and fork to continue eating.

She overhead Evie say, "Ophelia, stop staring, come on, look at those beautiful flowers."

"Flowers?" The mention of flowers seemed to interrupt Ophelia's thoughts, and she turned to Evie with a glazed look on her face.

"Yes, flowers, there," Evie pointed. "Aren't they lovely?"

Ophelia nodded enthusiastically as she spotted the centrepiece of flowers. She dropped her knife and fork and sat up straighter in her seat. She then began to list the names of all the flowers on the table, describing why she loved each and every one of them equally. Ginny laughed to herself and shook her head. Her friends were so weird.

To her immediate right, Beth was pushing her food around her plate with a fork. She stared at it with a glum expression on her face.

"Not hungry?" Ginny asked.

"Not really," Beth replied. "I just don't feel comfortable eating in front of so many people I don't know."

"Oh," Ginny managed to say. "Right." She put a piece of well-cooked fowl into her mouth before she remembered something. "Hey, you and Gwen seem to have become fast friends."

"Who?" Beth said, almost defensively.

"Um...Gwen?" Ginny said. She looked around the room to find her. Gwen was sat at the back of the room, sharing a table with Merlin. They noticed Ginny and waved. She waved back before facing Beth again. "So you aren't friends?"

"I didn't say that," Beth put her fork down and folded her arms.

"So you _are_ friends," Ginny said, her mouth twitching into a smile.

"You're not going to stop asking until you find out, are you?" Beth sighed. She leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling.

"You know me so well, Beth," Ginny smiled.

Beth almost rolled her eyes. She didn't though. Instead she said, "I was walking through the castle earlier this afternoon. My tour guide had left me, so I was by myself and I was just walking. Then all of a sudden, someone pushed me down and stalked off without apologising. Gwen was nearby and she came over to help, and she apologised because it was the Lady Morgana who had pushed me, and she seemed to genuinely care when she asked me questions so -"

"Excuse you, I genuinely care when I ask you questions too," Ginny interrupted.

"Yeah, but I know you," Beth shrugged. "Gwen was this stranger who cared, and I guess I just gave her a chance."

Feeling like she had probably shared too much, Beth leaned forward and picked up her fork to play with her food again. Ginny just stared at her. She had had conversations with Beth before, but Beth had never been this open. Ginny was pleasantly surprised, but she was also glad. She and Beth had a long way to go on the road to friendship. This was just a small step, but they were making progress.

Ginny's attention soon shifted to the other side of the room, where Arthur had just raised his voice at Katie, who was red in the face. Katie tried to say something, but Arthur cut her off. Ginny heard snippets of their conversation: "not just servants", "treat them well", "Merlin", "friend", but soon, the racket of the knights consumed the room once again, drowning out Arthur's voice.

Ginny looked to the back of the room, where the knights sat. They seemed to be telling tales of their adventures in the land of Albion, and were now speaking of a man named Lancelot. One knight mentioned that Lancelot was travelling through the country with two companions, earning a living by fighting for others' entertainment.

Ophelia, who was also apparently listening to the knights, said rather loudly, "Three men travelling and fighting together? What is this? The Three Musketeers?" she snorted before dissolving into giggles. Evie had to remove Ophelia's wine cup.

Ophelia got a few strange looks. None of the Camelot-dwellers seemed to know what a musketeer was. Ginny didn't even think that she knew. She concluded that it must be a Muggle thing.

The room suddenly fell silent when the King rose from his seat. Uther dabbed his mouth with a napkin before looking around the room at his guests.

"Will you perform for us?" he asked, directing his question to all of the Harpies, but looking directly at Katie.

"I - oh, um, we - perform?" Katie creased her eyebrows.

"Will you sing?" Uther said, now a little impatiently. "I assume that is your expertise. You perform music?"

"Right, of course, we're, um, performers," Katie said. She looked across the room to Ginny in a panicked manner, indicating that Ginny should help.

Before Ginny could though, Angelina stepped in and said, "We've had a long journey, and we need to rest our voices."

The rest of the women nodded their heads, supporting what Angelina had said. Uther gave them all a cold look, but Ginny believed that he was slightly disappointed, which she found quite amusing.

"Would it be alright if we performed for you tomorrow instead, your Majesty?" Angelina asked.

"Very well then," Uther said, with a wave of his hand. "I'm going to bed now." He turned to Morgana. "Will you be alright?"

Morgana nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. Uther gave the Harpies another cold stare before leaving the room.

* * *

As the feast came to an end, Ginny wondered where she and the rest of her teammates were going to stay the night. As if she had read her mind, Morgana stood up gracefully and announced that it would be a pleasure for her to show the guests to their sleeping chambers.

Ophelia immediately said, "NO!"

"Be nice, Ophelia," Angelina said.

"Yes, be nice," Evie repeated. Ophelia frowned.

"That would be lovely, thank you," Katie said quickly, addressing Morgana. "We'd love for you to show us where the sleeping chambers are."

"Follow me," Morgana gave them a mysterious smile before sweeping out of the room.

As they travelled out of the main building, Ophelia pulled Ginny aside and said, "She totally narrowed her eyes at me."

"Who?" Ginny asked.

"The evil woman who's leading us to our deaths!"

"That's a bit dramatic, Ophelia," Ginny said.

"You'll see," Ophelia muttered. "You'll see, you'll see, you'll see."

Ginny didn't know what to think. Morgana wasn't evil, was she? And if she wasn't, what was going on with Ophelia? Why did Ophelia insist that the King's ward was up to something? Was Ophelia going mad?

As the Harpies walked past a set of open wooden doors, a rather large gust of wind, which came out of nowhere, swept them off their feet and pushed them into the room within. Before they knew what had happened, the doors slammed shut with a bang and they heard the lock click. It was dark. The only light came from the crack underneath the door, but someone was standing there, blocking half of it. Ginny's eyes tried to adjust.

"What the hell?" Beth said angrily. She was at the back of the room.

"What is this place?" Magda asked curiously. Ginny heard footsteps and then a loud racket. It sounded as if Magda had fallen over. Magda confirmed Ginny's suspicion by saying, "Ouch!"

"Hang on," Angelina said, her tone authoritative. There was a brief silence and then, "Lumos!"

Angelina's wand tip lit up and the light flooded into the room, reaching even the far corners - not that they were far away, Ginny realised. They were in a broom cupboard. She looked around. Beth was standing at the back of the room, her arms crossed, an angry expression on her face. Magda was sprawled on the ground, her foot stuck in a bucket. Katie was sitting on top of another bucket. Ophelia and Alicia were standing in front of the door (_so they were the ones blocking the light_, Ginny thought), and Angelina and Evie were standing with her, in the middle of the room. Ginny walked over to the door and pulled out her wand.

"Alohomora!"

It didn't work. Ginny turned around sheepishly and walked back to the middle of the cupboard.

"Hey, where's Morgana? Wasn't she with us?" Katie suddenly stood up.

"She must have avoided the wind," Alicia said.

"That wind," Angelina said darkly, shaking her head.

"I'm one hundred percent positive that it was magic," Ginny said. "It definitely wasn't natural."

"Yeah, Mother Nature wouldn't have been able to conjure something that powerful," Alicia said, nodding her head, agreeing with what Ginny was saying.

Katie snorted and tried to contain her laughter, "Conjure. Good one."

"I wasn't...making a joke?" Alicia looked confused.

"It was a good choice of words," Katie explained through her giggles. "Since we were talking about magic, and you mentioned Mother Nature conjuring something, but she's not magical at all…no? No one gets it?"

"No, we get it," Beth said, before adding dryly, "Hilarious."

"We'd have laughed more if we weren't stuck in a broom cupboard, Katie," Magda said from her spot on the ground. "It's not personal."

Katie was about to say something when Evie cut her off, "Is it...warming up in here?"

"No," Beth said, but then she realised that she had spoken too soon.

The broom cupboard was indeed heating up and the Harpies all scurried away from the walls, which were soon too hot to touch. They heard the crackle of the flames before they saw them. There was no need for Angelina's wand-light now, the fire that was burning through the wood was enough to light up the whole room. Ginny could see her friends beginning to panic. It was becoming harder to breathe, and as each of them took quick, frantic breaths, the oxygen seemed to seep from the room. Beth had started to cough. Alicia and Magda used their arms to cover their nose and mouth. Ginny's eyes were burning. The room was getting brighter. The fire was on the inside now. Flames licked the walls from within.

"What are we going to do?" Katie said in a panicked voice. Her voice seemed far away to Ginny, whose head was beginning to spin. The lack of oxygen was getting to her.

Angelina pulled out her wand again. "Aguamenti!" she cried. Some of the others did the same.

The water spilled from their wands, but did nothing to stop the flames.

"Oh my wizard god, what are we going to do? What are we going to do?" Katie curled up on the ground and hugged her legs. Magda was still trying to distinguish the flames using 'Aguamenti', and as she walked backwards, she toppled over Katie.

"I was going to stay quiet," Ophelia yelled to get their attention. "But this _has_ to be Morgana. She's evil. She's doing this to us. I -"

"Ophelia!" Angelina said warningly.

Ophelia couldn't help herself, "I TOLD YOU SO."

Suddenly, the flames died down, and the doors were blasted off their hinges. Ginny covered her face. Through the smoke, they saw a thin, dark figure approaching them. Beth had another coughing fit.

"Merlin!" Ginny exclaimed when she realised the person coming towards them was Merlin.

There was a loud splutter and a cough behind her.

"Oh thank wizard god it's you," Ophelia said. She then added under her breath, "I told you all so."

"Why didn't our magic work?" Angelina demanded, forgetting that their magic had actually worked but did nothing against the fire. "Is there some sort of anti-magic curse here?"

Merlin shook his head. "The magic in this region is different to that of your region. They probably just don't work with one another."

"I've never heard of anything like that before," Angelina crossed her arms.

"We've never travelled to an alternate universe before," Ophelia piped up. Growing up as a Muggle-born, she was familiar with Arthurian legend. She thought she knew all about Camelot. Apparently, she didn't. "There is something sinister in the air here…"

"Alternate universe?" Merlin didn't understand.

"Merlin just saved us," Evie said to her best friend. "There is nothing sinister about that."

Beth was still coughing. Ginny thought that it would probably be best if they all left the still-slightly-smoking broom cupboard. She was about to suggest it when Alicia said, "For all the talk of a King afraid of magic, so much of it happens right under his nose."

Merlin actually laughed and nodded his head, "It's true. He is very ignorant. But it is for the best."

"Ignorance is bliss," Magda contributed.

"It was Morgana!" Ophelia suddenly blurted out.

Merlin faced her, "Morgana?"

"She trapped us in here. And she set the fire!"

"No, it can't be, she is in her sleeping chambers" Merlin shook his head. "It was most likely Morgause."

"Who?" a few of the Harpies said at the same time.

"Morgause is Morgana's half-sister," Merlin explained. "She has been attacking the castle constantly. She seems to have a hatred for Uther."

"I wonder why," Beth commented.

"Is she blonde?" Ophelia asked. Merlin nodded. "I knew it. Morgana's conspiring with her!"

"No," Merlin shook his head again, not believing her. "Enough of this. It's getting late. Let me show you where your real sleeping quarters are."

* * *

Ginny could not sleep that night. She was not used to sharing a bedroom. It had been too long since you had last had to do so. She was sharing with Beth and Magda, both of whom were snoring loudly. Each time she would start to drift off another loud snort would wake her up, and she would spend the next ten minutes with her hands pressed against her ears, trying her hardest to fall into slumber.

Ginny was sure it was two o'clock when she heard a whisper coming from somewhere. She lifted her head from her uncomfortable pillow and looked around. Both Beth and Magda were asleep. Cautiously she rose from the bed and walked over the the door, the cold stone uncomfortable on her bare feet.

She pressed her ear against the wooden door and strained to hear anything, but she could detect no sound. _I must be going mad_, she thought to herself as she crossed the room back to her bed. She was under the covers when the whispering began once more.

_Please don't be a basilisk_, she pleaded as she once more got out of the warm bed. This time she found herself drawn to the window. She looked out, and in a field not far from the castle boundary a large dragon was sat in a field, looking almost directly at her.

_Well there's something you don't see every day_, she said, and decided to go out and see it. She had a feeling that this might be the stupidest idea that she had ever had, but she pushed it from her mind almost as fast as it had entered. _This'll give me something to talk to Charlie about_.

It took her ten minutes to leave the castle, and she noticed that the guards weren't the most observant people. They were constantly looking in the wrong direction, and she supposed they were all deaf as well, considering she had stubbed her toe and swore in a loud whisper.

She slipped out of the gates unnoticed and found the dragon sat where she had saw it from her bedroom window.

"What kind of dragon are you?" she asked it, knowing full well that it would not respond.

"_The _dragon," the dragon replied in a smooth, velvety voice.

"Well that's new," Ginny said, taking a gulp. "Dragons talking. That's just ridiculous."

"No less ridiculous than a woman who can fly by sitting on broom," the dragon snapped back.

"You make a fair point, dragon," Ginny answered. _I really am going mad_, she thought.

"I am Kilgharrah," the voice announced. Ginny was unsure of what to do with this information. She even considered holding out her hand and saying _pleased to meet you_, but she wisely decided against that.

"I'm…"

"I am aware of who you are," Kilgharrah breathed, and Ginny felt herself shake. "You are an anomaly. Your presence was not foretold. You are a danger to the destiny of Camelot."

"I'm sorry?" Ginny asked, confused. She was perfectly willing to accept a talking dragon. But a talking dragon who could see the future?

"You do not belong in Camelot," the dragon continued. "Your presence will have a devastating effect on the one who will lead Camelot into its Golden Age."

"Oh," Ginny said blankly. "I'm… I apologise?"

"Leave."

"Rude."

"If you do not leave Camelot, the whole world will be in mortal peril," Kilgharrah snapped. "That is something I cannot let happen."

"Maybe we could help?" Ginny suggested, but the dragon shook it's head, and Ginny felt like laughing.

"You are an anomaly," he repeated. "There were no signs to warn us for the danger you will inflict upon us all."

"This is starting to sound ominous," Ginny said, although she didn't know herself whether she was being facetious or serious. "Also I'm feeling like this is a personal attack."

"The women with magic you brought along today, one of them will lead to a war that will rage on for longer than it needs to," Kilgharrah was talking in a whisper now, and Ginny felt herself paying more attention. "You must leave. You must leave or the Golden Age will never happen and the world will be plunged into darkness."

"You sound like a teacher I once had," Ginny muttered.

"That is all I can tell you," the dragon said, spreading his wings. "Leave."

He flew off, leaving Ginny alone to contemplate her thoughts. She cackled. She had just been chastised by a talking dragon who sounded strangely like Mr. Ollivander. _Why should I listen to him?_ Ginny asked herself. _He's a talking dragon. Probably some idiot who can turn into a dragon who gets thrills from winding up teenage girls._

And with that thought she returned to her room.

* * *

Ginny had pushed the dragon's warning out of her head almost as soon as she had returned to her room. She had fallen asleep not long after, and was awoken by the curtains being opened by a maid.

"Good morning," the maid said cheerily. Ginny couldn't understand how she could be so perky this early in the morning.

"'Morn," Ginny grumbled, wiping her eyes with her palm. She looked over and saw Beth and Magda still asleep in their own beds.

"Once you've dressed, the King would like to see you and your fellow performers," the maid said gently, before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

_Why does the King want to see us?_ Ginny asked herself. _Oh. The performance. It'll be that_.

She roused Magda and Beth and they dressed in the dressed the maid had placed at the foot of their beds. Ginny's was two sizes too big and a horrible shade of maroon that clashed with her hair, but at least it was something.

"Do you reckon he's going to get us to perform for him now?" Beth asked as she brushed down the grey gown she had been given.

"That's what I thought," Ginny admitted as she tied the string of Magda's blue dress.

They left the room not longer after and joined up with the other Harpies. They were all wearing new gowns and Ginny assumed somebody had pulled some strings.

"What's going on?" Alicia was asking Angelina, who was shrugging.

"We'll find out soon enough."

After getting lost a few times, the Harpies finally asked for directions and were led to the Throne Room. Ginny was expecting to see a throne, but instead, upon filing in after her teammates, she saw a long dining table. Uther was sat at the far end, drinking something that looked like ale, and eating something that looked like bacon. Next to him sat Morgana, who was wearing a dark green dress, which accentuated her eyes. Ginny saw Ophelia narrow her eyes.

"Ah, you're here," Uther said after he had finished drinking. His face was hard, and he seemed unimpressed, although Ginny didn't think much of it - that was how he had appeared last night. Perhaps this was how he always appeared. Uther signalled for the doors to be closed.

"Um, good...morning, Your Majesty," Katie said in a small voice.

"Leave," he said to the servants, and none of them questioned him. They filed out of the room, closing the heavy door behind them. The King looked up at the women, anger and fear in his eyes.

"What's going on?" Evie whispered.

"How. Dare. You." The King growled in a voice that frightened them all. "How dare you enter my home, take advantage of my hospitality and infiltrate my knights?"

"What are you talking about?" Ophelia snapped, her eyes focused on Morgana, who was staring right back.

"You have invaded my castle with the intent of weakening our defences," Uther snapped, and Ginny grew confused. "You are magical beings, are you not?"

"Of course not!" Angelina replied, a little too fast.

"You have been poisoning the minds of my knights, my physician and my servants," Uther's voice was still quiet and menacing and Ginny felt uncomfortable. "You were observed taking part in magic rituals."

Ginny knew this to be untrue, but there was no use arguing with the King. He was a bigot of the highest order.

"You are to be sentenced to death," he told them, almost casually, and Ginny's heart dropped. She had never bothered to learn any of the charms the witches of Salem had used. _Why should I have done? This is the nineties!_

The women all began to talk at once but were not given the opportunity to respond.

"Guards!" The King cried out, and Ginny was sure she saw a glint of smugness in Morgana's eyes. The guards entered the room. "Take these… _things_… to the dungeon. Remove anything that they have in their possession and tell the knights to begin to build a pyre."

"Yes, My Lord," one of the guards said, and the women were grabbed by rough handed men and led down to the dingy dungeon and locked up.

"Well isn't this great?" Beth snapped, placing her head in her hands.

"How did he know?" Alicia asked. Her face was stained with tears. Ginny wanted to give her a hug, but the chains held her back.

"He didn't. Morgana told him," Ophelia said. She was sitting next to Beth. "Now can I say 'I told you so?'"

"No," Evie frowned. "What I don't get is how Morgana knew…"

"Who cares how they knew?" Beth said grumpily. "We're in prison. PRISON."

"And it smells even worse than Azkaban," Magda contributed.

"You've been to Azkaban?" Ginny asked her, surprised.

Magda gave her a noncommittal nod. Or shake. Ginny couldn't tell.

"Does anyone have their wand?" Angelina asked sensibly.

Some shook their head. Others verbally stated that they didn't.

"I didn't think we'd need our wands," Katie explained. "I mean, we were going to see the King. He doesn't approve of magic, so bringing our wands would sort of breach some kind of law and -"

"Okay, Katie, we get it," Angelina interrupted to stop Katie from rambling.

Ginny stood up and walked to the door, where she examined the lock. She wondered whether she could unlock it without magic. Fred and George had once taught her how to use a Muggle hairpin to unlock Muggle doors.

"Does anyone have a hair pin?" Ginny asked, looking around. The Harpies all shook their heads.

"I have a hair tie," Magda offered, pulling out her short ponytail and holding out the black band to Ginny.

"No, thank you, Magda. That won't do," Ginny said as she slumped against the wall. Frustrated, she cried, "I didn't survive one tyrant to be killed by another."

For ten minutes, the eight women tried to come up with ideas on how they would escape their jail cells. As each idea became more and more unrealistic, the Harpies realised that they were getting closer to their impending deaths. They fell silent, and Ginny began to think about her short life. She didn't get very far. In fact, she was only thinking back to the time she first saw a Quidditch match when she heard two sets of footsteps. They sounded as if they were in a hurry. Suddenly, two men came into view. Ginny sprang up at once.

"Merlin, Arthur, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"No time to explain," Arthur said authoritatively. He took out a set of keys and unlocked the cell door before moving around to unlock the chains that bound the women to the room. "We have to get out of here quickly. The guards have been dealt with, for now."

"I have your belongings," Merlin told them. "Follow the passage. At the end, there is a tunnel. Follow that. We will be right behind you."

Angelina, who had been freed by Arthur first, nodded and sprinted. The others followed. Ginny was last.

"Thank you so much," Ginny said gratefully, rubbing her arms as the chains fell off. She hurried down the passageway, with Merlin and Arthur following closely behind her. At the end, she found the tunnel. She had to crawl through a section before it was enlarged and she could stand again. The Harpies were waiting for them at the end of the tunnel.

"It's locked," Ophelia hissed as she pointed to the grate. "How are we going to get out now?"

"We push," Arthur said logically.

"Isn't there a simpler way?" Katie folded her arms.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Arthur gave her a stern look.

"Fine," Katie rolled her eyes. She, Arthur and Angelina began pushing the grate.

Ginny caught Merlin's eye. He winked at her before holding up his hand and muttering an incantation under his breath. The grate began to move slightly, giving Arthur the impression that he was right - all they had to do was push. After a few more seconds, the lock flew off and they burst outside. It was a beautiful sunny day.

"This way," Arthur quickly made his way into the forest. The women followed him, with Merlin bringing up the rear. He had had to stay back to close the grate, making sure that nothing was out of place or suspicious. They travelled on foot for what felt like an hour, but was really only ten minutes. Ginny was exhausted. She couldn't wait to go home. The dresses weren't at all helpful either. Ginny didn't think she could wear another ankle-length dress again without thinking of this experience. She would gladly stick to wearing pants.

Arthur came to a stop in a clearing. Ginny spotted a small stream running through it and asked if the water was okay to drink from. Merlin told her that it was. The water was refreshing and cool, and she felt much more awake after she drank and splashed some on her face. The other Harpies did the same. Magda almost tripped and fell in, but Beth managed to grab her. Only Magda's foot slipped in. Ginny watched amusedly as Magda emptied out the water in her left boot. Merlin began to distribute their belongings.

"How come you came to save us?" Angelina asked. "Aren't you breaking your father's rules by breaking us out of prison?"

Arthur shook his head sadly, "My father...my father, he can't see past his hatred for magic. I don't want to be like him." This declaration was met by silence. Arthur added, "Besides, Merlin here tells me that you are not magical at all, and that you really _are_ performers."

"We are," Katie said quickly, nodding sincerely. Arthur ignored her.

"One of my guards told me that somebody told Morgana that you were magical, and she was the one to tell my father…" Arthur said, looking around at each of them. He suddenly bellowed, "THAT RAT!", which made Ginny and a few others jump. There was a splash as Magda's left boot ended up in the stream...again.

Merlin was grinning. Ginny didn't know why. She decided it was probably because of Magda. Arthur apologised.

"This is as far as Merlin and I can go," Arthur told them.

"We appreciate all of your help, Sire," Alicia said quietly. "Thank you."

"It was really wonderful to meet all of you," Arthur gave them a small smile. "I doubt we will meet again, but I wish you all the best for your journey." He turned and began to walk back the way that they had come from. "Merlin, are you coming?"

"Yes, uh, one second," Merlin called. He waved Arthur on, but Arthur just stood there, watching him with his arms crossed.

"Merlin, if I sent you letters to give to um, people... would you pass them on for me please?" Magda asked him quickly, whispering so that no one else could hear. Her whisper was so loud though that the only person who couldn't hear was Arthur, and that was because he was stood so far away.

"Of course," Merlin said. "Of course." He smiled at Magda. "Thank you all for coming. I can't believe I got to meet a Quidditch team!"

"And we can't believe we got to meet you," Ginny said, just as excitedly, before adding, "And a royal family…"

"We've had the most magical time," Magda said dreamily.

Katie snorted, "Out of all the words you could have used, you chose 'magical'?"

"Goodbye," Merlin said quickly, in an attempt to break up the argument that was about to ensue.

"Goodbye, Merlin. Thank you for inviting us," Ophelia stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. She whispered into his ear, "Keep an eye out for Morgana. She's trouble."

Merlin nodded in response and said goodbye to the other women. Ginny stood aside, waiting for her turn.

"Ginny Weasley," Merlin said as he approached her.

"Merlin."

"Thank you for coming to Camelot. It means a lot to me that you took the time to visit. I'm just sorry it ended the way it did."

"I've faced worse," Ginny shrugged, before she laughed, "We were promised adventure, and adventure is exactly what we got. So thank _you_."

Merlin gave her a big smile, "Send my regards to Harry."

"I will. You take care, Merlin."

"You too." They hugged. "Goodbye, Ginny Weasley. I hope we meet again someday soon."

"I hope so too. Goodbye, Merlin."

Merlin walked away, towards Arthur, and when he had caught up to the Prince, Ginny watched them walk away back towards Camelot. Once they were out of sight, Ginny turned back to her teammates.

"Uh, so how are we getting home?" she asked.

"Guess who was smart enough to bring something to make a Portkey?" Katie said a little too enthusiastically. When all of the Harpies turned to look at Katie hopefully, her face fell and she admitted, "Not me."

There was a collective groan, but Angelina saved the day. "I did, of course." Angelina rummaged through her bag and pulled out a book. "It's from the Muggle library," Angelina shrugged in response to the confused faces.

She created the Portkey, Evie counted them down and soon, they were leaving the weird and wonderful world of Camelot behind.

They landed with a thud outside the Harpy Cage, on the uncomfortable white pebbles that led up to the front door.

"That was a strange trip," Katie said, standing up. She brushed down the dress she had been given that morning.

"We are never going on field trips again," Beth added.

"I thought it was quite fun," Evie admitted.

"Maybe next time you'll listen to me," Ophelia grumbled angrily. "I'm a wonderful judge of character."

The women started talking over one another as they made their way up the the door, and as they reached it, Ginny laughed.

"I had a conversation with a dragon."

The conversation stopped in it's tracks.

"Dragons don't talk," Beth snapped, and Ginny shrugged her shoulders, sighing as they walked into the safety of home.

* * *

**Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter, nor Merlin, nor The Three Musketeers.**

* * *

**_A/N:_** Hi.

We wrote this in celebration of Green and Gold's one year anniversary. Obviously, it's a spinoff, but we're hoping to incorporate some of the Camelot-dwellers into G&G, especially all the greatness that is Leon and Magda (we hereby declare that they shall now be known as _Leonda_). We'd love to include Merlin in G&G as well, and perhaps delve into his past with Harry - not that there is much of a past, as of yet. But perhaps there will be.

We hope you enjoyed reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it. It's so random, but it's fun.

Happy reading, everyone.

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINNY!


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